The world of high-end watchmaking can be intimidating to the uninitiated, and I'm not only referring to the jaw-dropping price tags. There's an entire culture that has grown around this incredible craft, and, like any culture, it comes with its own insider language. Terms like "complication" and "escapement" and "movement" do battle with acronyms like "GMT" and "EOT" to confuse would-be watch collectors and first-time enthusiasts. And that's a terrible shame, because at bottom this whole hobby is about one simple thing: an appreciation for fine craftsmanship.

And fine craftsmanship is exactly what is so abundantly showcased by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey's new Platinum GMT, aka the Greubel Forsey GMT. One look at this masterpiece shows a watch face every bit as complicated and intriguing as the terminology used to describe it. The "GMT" in the title refers to Greenwich Mean Time, the global time standard based in Greenwich, London. A watch designated "GMT" is one that possesses a second time-zone indicator, allowing the wearer to tell the time in London and New York with a quick glance of the wrist.

Of course, as far as watchmaking tricks go, dual time zones is old hat, an impressive but by no means revolutionary complication (whoops, almost did it again: a complication is any additional feature of a watch beyond simply telling the time). But "old hat" and "conventional" weren't good enough for Greubel Forsey, who have upped the ante by replacing the conventional second dial with a fully rotating miniature globe, centered on the North Pole, which completes a single, counter-clockwise revolution in the same 24-hour period that our planet rotates on its axis.

Remember what I said earlier about the watch game being about an appreciation for fine craftsmanship? Well, it doesn't take an engineering degree to appreciate the kind of planning and patient execution that allows you to have a miniature globe rotating on your wrist.

But the fine craftsmanship and attention to detail aren't just limited to the front of the watch. The back of the timepiece features a nifty rotating disc, displaying all 24 time zones and listing the name of one city found in each time zone, further increasing the watch's usefulness and giving it yet another "gee whiz" feature you can boast about to your friends. There's also a miniature gold "sun" shining down on the whole back face and adding a glamorous touch to the watch's ultra-functional design.